Monday, May 31, 2010

The garden is doing well. The seedling bell peppers & eggplant were failures so I purchased some plants at the local store. Peas, beans, cukes, melon & squash are going nuts! The lattice is ready for the climbers! Some pics:

I love mexican food - so when I found this recipe for a mexican pasta salad at Cara's Cravings, I made it right away! A great change from the normal pasta salad that I usually make so many times during the summer. I made just a few modifications, as presented below.

Cook pasta as per package instructions.Snap the ends of the asparagus off and break each spear into 3-4 pieces. Add asparagus and onion to a med-hi saute pan containing ~2 tbsp olive oil. Add salt and stir frequently.Add quartered artichokes to pan once the asparagus is bright green and onions are almost cooked through. Cook for a few minutes.Toss pasta in with veggies, add more oil to have a light coating.Serve with fresh grated parm cheese

Monday, May 3, 2010

Our backyard along the house has been a mess since we moved in almost 3 years ago. There are beautiful ferns growing there, which had been unfortunately joined and choked out by lots of weeds. The ground was a mud/ mix of random stones and rocks. I don't have any good up-close pictures of this sad area because, well, why would we photograph it; it was a mess!

Here is the closest picture I can find:

We decided to fight back against the ugly. We re-purposed stones from the chimney that was taken down to make a barrier wall, weeded everything but the ferns out, used newspapers as weed growth - preventer, and put in landscape stones to finish the area. It was HARD WORK... the border stones had been relocated to the far end of the property and had to be wheelbarrowed back up. But we are so happy we finally did it! A busy but rewarding day.

Near the side door:

(Propane tank hopefully is next to go-relocated around the corner of the house)

I recently discovered the deliciousness that is a Larabar. They are so healthy because of their limited ingredient list, which, coincidentally, makes them really easy to make! I found instructions here at Enlightened Cooking.

I purchased organic dates, dried cherries, almonds, peanuts, and banana chips in the bulk section of the grocery store and got to work. I started with the PB&J-inspired bar since I thought it would go over well with the husband :) By the end of the food processing...we had both eaten a couple raw dates (new to us) - they are really delicious! Not sure whether I will have to go thru the trouble of food processing since they are great on their own - but I digress...

Blend dates and cherries in food processor and remove when they have melded into a paste. Set aside in separate bowl. I say "1/4 cup +" above because the initial mix was too peanutty. Plus, more fruit is a good thing :)Chop peanuts in processor (no need to wash processor). Lay out plastic wrap to wrap the bars, because your hands will soon be stickyyyyy- When the nuts are pulverized, mix with fruit paste in bowl to combine all (3) ingredients.

Form into bars. Since I ended up adding more fruit, I made 4 bars. The EC recipe indicates that it makes 2.

Boil potatoes for approximately 10 minutes (totally dependent upon the size of your pieces). Stick with a fork or knife - they are done when you can poke through them relatively easily without them falling apart.Meanwhile, cut up celery and onion.

Cool potatoes when done cooking and chop up eggs.

Stir all ingredients together. I add the mayo by the tablespoon or 2 at a time to ensure it doesn't get too mushy. We don't like overly-mayo-ey potato salad.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours prior to serving so flavors can meld. Stir prior to serving and add a bit more mayo if needed/ desired.

About Me

My husband and I live in an 1851 stone farmhouse in rural NJ, a property that we share with our 2 rescue mutts, 2 donkeys, 2 dwarf goats, and chickens. We look forward to sharing our adventures renovating the property and bringing it back to its true farm roots on this blog. I also love cooking, healthy living, and margaritas on the rocks! Ha.